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I got a live one! - Spam source

 

 

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rusmyba at gmail

Nov 24, 2009, 7:22 PM

Post #1 of 21 (1874 views)
Permalink
I got a live one! - Spam source

Looks like of our customers has decided to turn their /24 into a nice little
space spewing machine. Doesn't seem like just one compromised host.

Reverse DNS for most of the /24 are suspicious domains. Each domain used in
the message-id forwards to a single .net which lists their mailing address
as a PO box an single link to an unsubscribe field.

I've contacted at least three known contacts for the customer about the
abuse without a single response.

It would seem there are many layers to this entity:

The domains are registered to one business
Our billing information for the customer has one name, they colo with
another person (whom the cross connect reaches)
Our customer has an IT solutions person working for them (Strange since our
customer and their colo provider are "IT solutions" people themselves.
Abuse handle phone #s are supposedly incorrect (I called it)

Besides the obvious of me at the minimum filtering port tcp/25 is their an
organization that tracks businesses like these who seem like they are
building a web of insulation in which to move?

I think this case might interest them.


fergdawgster at gmail

Nov 24, 2009, 7:26 PM

Post #2 of 21 (1817 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 7:22 PM, Russell Myba <rusmyba [at] gmail> wrote:

> Looks like of our customers has decided to turn their /24 into a nice
> little space spewing machine. Doesn't seem like just one compromised
> host.
>
> Reverse DNS for most of the /24 are suspicious domains. Each domain used
> in the message-id forwards to a single .net which lists their mailing
> address as a PO box an single link to an unsubscribe field.
>
> I've contacted at least three known contacts for the customer about the
> abuse without a single response.
>
> It would seem there are many layers to this entity:
>
> The domains are registered to one business
> Our billing information for the customer has one name, they colo with
> another person (whom the cross connect reaches)
> Our customer has an IT solutions person working for them (Strange since
> our customer and their colo provider are "IT solutions" people
> themselves.
> Abuse handle phone #s are supposedly incorrect (I called it)
>
> Besides the obvious of me at the minimum filtering port tcp/25 is their
> an organization that tracks businesses like these who seem like they are
> building a web of insulation in which to move?
>
> I think this case might interest them.
>

Can you name the /24?

I can't say that this sound unfamiliar -- we are seeing an increase in
"facilitated" criminal activity across the board...

- - ferg

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--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
Engineering Architecture for the Internet
fergdawgster(at)gmail.com
ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/


jlewis at lewis

Nov 24, 2009, 7:43 PM

Post #3 of 21 (1821 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

On Tue, 24 Nov 2009, Russell Myba wrote:

> Looks like of our customers has decided to turn their /24 into a nice little
> space spewing machine. Doesn't seem like just one compromised host.
>
> Reverse DNS for most of the /24 are suspicious domains. Each domain used in
> the message-id forwards to a single .net which lists their mailing address
> as a PO box an single link to an unsubscribe field.
>
> I've contacted at least three known contacts for the customer about the
> abuse without a single response.

I've found that in cases like this, the best way to get in contact with
the customer is to interrupt their service. Suddenly, they'll go
from being too busy to take/return your call to calling you.

> It would seem there are many layers to this entity:
>
> The domains are registered to one business
> Our billing information for the customer has one name, they colo with
> another person (whom the cross connect reaches)
> Our customer has an IT solutions person working for them (Strange since our
> customer and their colo provider are "IT solutions" people themselves.
> Abuse handle phone #s are supposedly incorrect (I called it)

I'm confused. Who are you billing and for what services?

> Besides the obvious of me at the minimum filtering port tcp/25 is their an
> organization that tracks businesses like these who seem like they are
> building a web of insulation in which to move?
>
> I think this case might interest them.

Spamhaus is the first one that comes to mind. From what I understand of
your description, this doesn't sound all that different from typical
spammer behavior. Multiple layers of indirection seems to be the latest
thing for spammers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jon Lewis | I route
Senior Network Engineer | therefore you are
Atlantic Net |
_________ http://www.lewis.org/~jlewis/pgp for PGP public key_________


ge at linuxbox

Nov 24, 2009, 7:57 PM

Post #4 of 21 (1815 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

Russell Myba wrote:
> Looks like of our customers has decided to turn their /24 into a nice little
> space spewing machine. Doesn't seem like just one compromised host.
>
> Reverse DNS for most of the /24 are suspicious domains. Each domain used in
> the message-id forwards to a single .net which lists their mailing address
> as a PO box an single link to an unsubscribe field.
>
> I've contacted at least three known contacts for the customer about the
> abuse without a single response.
>
> It would seem there are many layers to this entity:
>
> The domains are registered to one business
> Our billing information for the customer has one name, they colo with
> another person (whom the cross connect reaches)
> Our customer has an IT solutions person working for them (Strange since our
> customer and their colo provider are "IT solutions" people themselves.
> Abuse handle phone #s are supposedly incorrect (I called it)
>
> Besides the obvious of me at the minimum filtering port tcp/25 is their an
> organization that tracks businesses like these who seem like they are
> building a web of insulation in which to move?
>
> I think this case might interest them.
>

From principle, I want to jump up and down and say "zap `em!". However,
I also make several assumption which need to be clearned, pragmatically.

I assume you have authority over the decision of what to do with them,
and I also assume that your contract with them does not bind you in some
fashion, can get you in trouble with the business side of the business,
or can introduce *liability* issues. And naturally, that if you are not
the decision maker, that you are synched with whomever it is.

These assumptions aside, kicking them might not be the best solution.
"Starving them" out by blocking port 25, as an example you gave, or
following some of the other suggestions in this thread, may be workable.

Which brings me three very important questions:
1. How much intelligence can you collect if you let them stay?
2. Have you considered legal action against them?
3. Did you consult with legal about possible law enforcement involvement?

As to the intricate web of who they are and where their resources lie,
these are usually cases where the more you dig, the more you find -- ad
infinitum.

Me? I'd just kick them after verifying they are not victims themselves.

I hope this helps,

Gadi.


--
Gadi Evron,
ge [at] linuxbox

Blog: http://gevron.livejournal.com/


rusmyba at gmail

Nov 24, 2009, 8:07 PM

Post #5 of 21 (1816 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

>
>
> I'm confused. Who are you billing and for what services?
>
>
Let's say our direct customer is CustomerA. They seem to buy rackspace from
BusinessB. CustomerA seem to retain BusinessC for "IT Solutions" even
though all three entities purport to be IT solutions providers.
BusinessC came into the picture after the spamming started saying a wholly
different /24 (Different from the spam source) "doesn't work". It routes
fine on our end. I have a feeling they've been added to some RBLs but I
haven't found them listed yet.

Just a simple ethernet handoff in a colo. We delegated rDNS to the servers
of their choice and haven't heard a peep out of them until now.



> Spamhaus is the first one that comes to mind. From what I understand of
> your description, this doesn't sound all that different from typical spammer
> behavior. Multiple layers of indirection seems to be the latest thing for
> spammers.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Jon Lewis | I route
> Senior Network Engineer | therefore you are
> Atlantic Net |
> _________ http://www.lewis.org/~jlewis/pgp<http://www.lewis.org/%7Ejlewis/pgp>for PGP public key_________
>


ops.lists at gmail

Nov 24, 2009, 9:45 PM

Post #6 of 21 (1810 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 8:52 AM, Russell Myba <rusmyba [at] gmail> wrote:
> Looks like of our customers has decided to turn their /24 into a nice little
> space spewing machine.  Doesn't seem like just one compromised host.
>
> Reverse DNS for most of the /24 are suspicious domains.  Each domain used in
> the message-id forwards to a single .net which lists their mailing address
> as a PO box an single link to an unsubscribe field.

Sounds like what spamhaus.org calls snowshoe. What /24 would this be?


michael at linuxmagic

Nov 24, 2009, 10:55 PM

Post #7 of 21 (1814 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

On November 24, 2009, Russell Myba wrote:
> > Spamhaus is the first one that comes to mind. From what I understand of
> > your description, this doesn't sound all that different from typical
> > spammer behavior. Multiple layers of indirection seems to be the latest
> > thing for spammers.

Depends on the activity, but this re-iterates the importance of maintaining
correct SWIP, so that only the offenders get listed, and not bordering
customers.

But if you give the info on the listed company and range, we might be able to
give you a lot more information..

I was just reading the latest spam auditors report, and it is always amazing
how the same guys keep finding new colo's to work out of ..


--
--
"Catch the Magic of Linux..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Peddemors - President/CEO - LinuxMagic
Products, Services, Support and Development
Visit us at http://www.linuxmagic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Wizard IT Company - For More Info http://www.wizard.ca
"LinuxMagic" is a Registered TradeMark of Wizard Tower TechnoServices Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
604-589-0037 Beautiful British Columbia, Canada

This email and any electronic data contained are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed.
Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely
those of the author and are not intended to represent those of the company.


fergdawgster at gmail

Nov 24, 2009, 11:17 PM

Post #8 of 21 (1812 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 10:55 PM, Michael Peddemors
<michael [at] linuxmagic> wrote:

>
> Depends on the activity, but this re-iterates the importance of
> maintaining correct SWIP, so that only the offenders get listed, and not
> bordering
> customers.
>

Right. There are *so many* loopholes in this entire process, Bad Guys are
waltzing through it.

- - ferg


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=gQrR
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
Engineering Architecture for the Internet
fergdawgster(at)gmail.com
ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/


justin at justinshore

Nov 24, 2009, 11:27 PM

Post #9 of 21 (1809 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

Russell Myba wrote:
> Let's say our direct customer is CustomerA. They seem to buy rackspace from
> BusinessB. CustomerA seem to retain BusinessC for "IT Solutions" even
> though all three entities purport to be IT solutions providers.
> BusinessC came into the picture after the spamming started saying a wholly
> different /24 (Different from the spam source) "doesn't work". It routes
> fine on our end. I have a feeling they've been added to some RBLs but I
> haven't found them listed yet.
>
> Just a simple ethernet handoff in a colo. We delegated rDNS to the servers
> of their choice and haven't heard a peep out of them until now.

I think it's an absolute crying shame that a freak bolt of lighting
somehow fried their rackspace in the colo and didn't affect any of the
surrounding neighbors. I hate it when that happens. It's karma I think...

Justin


truman at suspicious

Nov 25, 2009, 3:47 AM

Post #10 of 21 (1806 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

Interesting scenario ... but would be far more interesting to us if you share the /24?

Truman

On 25/11/2009, at 3:07 PM, Russell Myba wrote:

>>
>>
>> I'm confused. Who are you billing and for what services?
>>
>>
> Let's say our direct customer is CustomerA. They seem to buy rackspace from
> BusinessB. CustomerA seem to retain BusinessC for "IT Solutions" even
> though all three entities purport to be IT solutions providers.
> BusinessC came into the picture after the spamming started saying a wholly
> different /24 (Different from the spam source) "doesn't work". It routes
> fine on our end. I have a feeling they've been added to some RBLs but I
> haven't found them listed yet.
>
> Just a simple ethernet handoff in a colo. We delegated rDNS to the servers
> of their choice and haven't heard a peep out of them until now.
>
>
>
>> Spamhaus is the first one that comes to mind. From what I understand of
>> your description, this doesn't sound all that different from typical spammer
>> behavior. Multiple layers of indirection seems to be the latest thing for
>> spammers.
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Jon Lewis | I route
>> Senior Network Engineer | therefore you are
>> Atlantic Net |
>> _________ http://www.lewis.org/~jlewis/pgp<http://www.lewis.org/%7Ejlewis/pgp>for PGP public key_________
>>
>


rsk at gsp

Nov 25, 2009, 3:49 AM

Post #11 of 21 (1808 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 10:22:36PM -0500, Russell Myba wrote:
> Looks like of our customers has decided to turn their /24 into a nice little
> space spewing machine. Doesn't seem like just one compromised host.

1. This is possibly/probably better on spam-l.
2. This is a very common operational model. Any number of spamgangs
have been busy doing this with multiple /24's scattered over numerous
providers in order to distribute the workload and minimize the impact
of any takedown.
3. There is no point in reporting this to any law enforcment agency
anywhere in the world *unless* child pornography is involved. Any
action they take will be slow, inept, and ineffective. The best that
you can probably do is (a) shut down them instantly and permanently
and (b) publish all relevant details -- name names -- on spam-l so
that workers and researchers can use the information.

---Rsk


brunner at nic-naa

Nov 25, 2009, 4:49 AM

Post #12 of 21 (1801 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

Russell,

My personal inclination would be to look for what legit entities are
provisioning them with critical resources and what margins they appear
to be paying.

For DNS resources, the domains, to identify registry preference,
probably a simple volume correlation, and the registrars, which may
corollate better to other primary characteristics than simple volume, to
RRset data, which may have interesting corollates to other, provisioned,
critical resources. I'm not the "registrar police", I'm simply
interested in ICANN having a policy towards registrars that looks beyond
failure to respond to email, failure to pay $0.25/domain/year, and
failure to escrow registrant data, which seem to be the only basis for
breach of contract proceedings against, or non-renewals of its registrars.

Whack-a-mole has been discussed lots of times, and as Gadi confirms at
the end of his note, he's still mostly in the Whack-a-camp, though he
does mention gathering information.

When they stop providing you (and "you" could include parties who are
paying you to look over your shoulder at this petri dish and its
cultured agar) with data of value then their existence is of no value.

Eric

Gadi Evron wrote:
> Russell Myba wrote:
>> Looks like of our customers has decided to turn their /24 into a nice
>> little
>> space spewing machine. Doesn't seem like just one compromised host.
>>
>> Reverse DNS for most of the /24 are suspicious domains. Each domain
>> used in
>> the message-id forwards to a single .net which lists their mailing
>> address
>> as a PO box an single link to an unsubscribe field.
>>
>> I've contacted at least three known contacts for the customer about the
>> abuse without a single response.
>>
>> It would seem there are many layers to this entity:
>>
>> The domains are registered to one business
>> Our billing information for the customer has one name, they colo with
>> another person (whom the cross connect reaches)
>> Our customer has an IT solutions person working for them (Strange
>> since our
>> customer and their colo provider are "IT solutions" people themselves.
>> Abuse handle phone #s are supposedly incorrect (I called it)
>>
>> Besides the obvious of me at the minimum filtering port tcp/25 is
>> their an
>> organization that tracks businesses like these who seem like they are
>> building a web of insulation in which to move?
>>
>> I think this case might interest them.
>>
>
> From principle, I want to jump up and down and say "zap `em!".
> However, I also make several assumption which need to be clearned,
> pragmatically.
>
> I assume you have authority over the decision of what to do with them,
> and I also assume that your contract with them does not bind you in
> some fashion, can get you in trouble with the business side of the
> business, or can introduce *liability* issues. And naturally, that if
> you are not the decision maker, that you are synched with whomever it is.
>
> These assumptions aside, kicking them might not be the best solution.
> "Starving them" out by blocking port 25, as an example you gave, or
> following some of the other suggestions in this thread, may be workable.
>
> Which brings me three very important questions:
> 1. How much intelligence can you collect if you let them stay?
> 2. Have you considered legal action against them?
> 3. Did you consult with legal about possible law enforcement involvement?
>
> As to the intricate web of who they are and where their resources lie,
> these are usually cases where the more you dig, the more you find --
> ad infinitum.
>
> Me? I'd just kick them after verifying they are not victims themselves.
>
> I hope this helps,
>
> Gadi.
>
>


jlewis at lewis

Nov 25, 2009, 5:07 AM

Post #13 of 21 (1806 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

On Wed, 25 Nov 2009, Rich Kulawiec wrote:

> On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 10:22:36PM -0500, Russell Myba wrote:
>> Looks like of our customers has decided to turn their /24 into a nice little
>> space spewing machine. Doesn't seem like just one compromised host.
>
> 1. This is possibly/probably better on spam-l.
> 2. This is a very common operational model. Any number of spamgangs
> have been busy doing this with multiple /24's scattered over numerous
> providers in order to distribute the workload and minimize the impact
> of any takedown.

One of them actually patented it. Further proof that you can patent just
about anything in the US.

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20090271475

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jon Lewis | I route
Senior Network Engineer | therefore you are
Atlantic Net |
_________ http://www.lewis.org/~jlewis/pgp for PGP public key_________


rusmyba at gmail

Nov 25, 2009, 6:40 AM

Post #14 of 21 (1805 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 2:17 AM, Paul Ferguson <fergdawgster [at] gmail> wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 10:55 PM, Michael Peddemors
> <michael [at] linuxmagic> wrote:
>
>>
>> Depends on the activity, but this re-iterates the importance of
>> maintaining correct SWIP, so that only the offenders get listed, and not
>> bordering
>> customers.
>>
>
> Right. There are *so many* loopholes in this entire process, Bad Guys are
> waltzing through it.
>
> - - ferg
>
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: PGP Desktop 9.5.3 (Build 5003)
>
> wj8DBQFLDNofq1pz9mNUZTMRAgNrAKDz6JwFqBG3gvXEIKo1UVrJSTmxDQCfadqV
> Ph3qt/qPDze8Z5tsRP7LgSw=
> =gQrR
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>
> --
> "Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
>  Engineering Architecture for the Internet
>  fergdawgster(at)gmail.com
>  ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/
>
>

Could you elaborate on what constitutes correct swip information?


michael at linuxmagic

Nov 25, 2009, 9:25 AM

Post #15 of 21 (1802 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

>
> Could you elaborate on what constitutes correct swip information?
>

Sure, you just opened the door to my opinions on this :)

-- WRONG --

OrgName: FortressITX
OrgID: FORTR-5
Address: 100 Delawanna Ave
City: Clifton
StateProv: NJ
PostalCode: 07014
Country: US

Found a referral to rwhois.fortressitx.com:4443.

Timeout.
-- -----------------
The argument that whois information should not be made public, is ridiculous.
I here people saying that they don't publish whois information because they
don't want the email's made public. Okay, at least the registered company
name, or individual who presented the ID should be there.

-- WRONG --

OrgName: Peer 1 Dedicated Hosting
OrgID: P1DH-1
Address: 101 Marietta Street
Address: Suite 500
City: Atlanta
StateProv: GA
PostalCode: 30303
Country: US

NetRange: 216.150.0.0 - 216.150.31.255
CIDR: 216.150.0.0/19
------------------------------
Okay, you REALLY want people to get tired of playing whack a mole? This is
why many list operators block large ranges.. according to this listing, one
responsible party for the whole list.. (oh, and don't get me started on
reporting.. the quote i heard here was .. 'Oh, we don't do anything about
spammers unless it affects other customers')

So, how big a range should you block when you start seeing a pattern?

Remember, organizations like UCE-PROTECT tend to base a reputation on /24 This
is probably because in a lot of cases, you cannot tell does the person own the
whole range, or just the top /25

-- RIGHT --

OrgName: Network Operations Center Inc.
OrgID: NOC
Address: PO Box 591
City: Scranton

network:Network-Name:NET-96.9.145.224/28
network:IP-Network:96.9.145.224/28
network:Organization;I:org--6898
network:Org-Name:ServerPlaceNet c/o Network Operations Center, Inc.
--------------

Simple, if the IP's reflect some behavior we don't like, we know exactly which
ranges should be affected.

Basically, if you absolve yourself of the responsibility for the conduct of
part of your networks, to a 3rd party.. you should SWIP it. Some hosting
companies are really good about this, even as far as SWIP'ing down to the /32.

There is a chain of responsbilitly, and when a hosting company has a known
offender using portion(s) of their space, it makes it much easier to decide
how much of that space should be blocked. Should we block the whole /24 or
only a portion?

Say you see...

66.104.246.36: mail1.clubdelivery.net
66.104.246.37: mail1.deliverydirect.info
66.104.246.38: mail1.deliverymobile.net
66.104.246.39: mail1.deliveryonline.info
66.104.246.40: mail1.deliveryrama.net
66.104.246.41: mail1.deliveryusa.net
66.104.246.42: mail1.deliveryzilla.net
66.104.246.43: mail1.godelivery.info
66.104.246.44: mail1.instantdelivery.info
66.104.246.45: mail1.date-meet.net
66.104.246.46: mail1.uchatfree.net
66.104.246.47: mail1.secureeasypay.net
66.104.246.48: mail1.idevelopthings.com
66.104.246.49: mail1.whocanvote.com
66.104.246.50: mail1.freedvdz.net
66.104.246.51: mail1.freecybercam.com
66.104.246.53: mail2.clubdelivery.net
66.104.246.54: mail2.deliverydirect.info
66.104.246.55: mail2.deliverymobile.net
66.104.246.56: mail2.deliveryonline.info
66.104.246.57: mail2.deliveryrama.net
66.104.246.58: mail2.deliveryusa.net
66.104.246.59: mail2.deliveryzilla.net
66.104.246.60: mail2.godelivery.info
66.104.246.61: mail2.instantdelivery.info
66.104.246.62: mail2.date-meet.net

It's listed as..

network:Organization;I:Precision Technology, Inc (286563-1)
network:IP-Network:66.104.244.0/22

Well, we don't have to affect the whole XO block.. but who is the operator
responsible for the activities of these servers?

The SWIP should reflect that. Also, it makes it easier to see relevant
activities from other ranges that the customer might own..

Like older IP Ranges...

-- Precision Technology INC mycouponsavingsmailcom MYCOUPONSAVINGSMAILCOM
24.155.144.16 - 24.155.144.31
# 24.155.144.16/28

Guess business was good.. but now of course, with proper SWIP, we know that
those IP's are no longer controlled by the same party . (we hope)

Of course, it can still be abused.. if the hosting provider is in colusion..
changes the SWIP regularly to hide that it is the same operator.. but even
then, we will see such patterns.. if a hosting company 'constantly' gets a new
'problem customer' <sic> then we can see that as well.






--
--
"Catch the Magic of Linux..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Peddemors - President/CEO - LinuxMagic
Products, Services, Support and Development
Visit us at http://www.linuxmagic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Wizard IT Company - For More Info http://www.wizard.ca
"LinuxMagic" is a Registered TradeMark of Wizard Tower TechnoServices Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
604-589-0037 Beautiful British Columbia, Canada

This email and any electronic data contained are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed.
Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely
those of the author and are not intended to represent those of the company.


john-nanog at johnpeach

Nov 25, 2009, 9:40 AM

Post #16 of 21 (1806 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

On Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:25:27 -0800
Michael Peddemors <michael [at] linuxmagic> wrote:

> >
> > Could you elaborate on what constitutes correct swip information?
> >
>
> Sure, you just opened the door to my opinions on this :)
>

hmmm - odd that the 2 you chose to show as wrong, both feature highly
in my postfix reject_clients map.....



--
John


ops.lists at gmail

Nov 25, 2009, 3:46 PM

Post #17 of 21 (1799 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 10:55 PM, Michael Peddemors
<michael [at] linuxmagic> wrote:
>>
>> Could you elaborate on what constitutes correct swip information?
>>
>
> Sure, you just opened the door to my opinions on this :)
>

Dysfunctional rwhois servers sounds more like general brokenness than
malice. The other interesting (!) characteristic of thie sort of bulk
mailer discussed in this thread is that the netblock is most likely
swipped / rwhois'd to a brand new shell company LLC, headquartered in
what looks like a UPS store maildrop.


john-nanog at johnpeach

Nov 25, 2009, 4:16 PM

Post #18 of 21 (1802 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:16:15 +0530
Suresh Ramasubramanian <ops.lists [at] gmail> wrote:

> On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 10:55 PM, Michael Peddemors
> <michael [at] linuxmagic> wrote:
> >>
> >> Could you elaborate on what constitutes correct swip information?
> >>
> >
> > Sure, you just opened the door to my opinions on this :)
> >
>
> Dysfunctional rwhois servers sounds more like general brokenness than
> malice. The other interesting (!) characteristic of thie sort of bulk
> mailer discussed in this thread is that the netblock is most likely
> swipped / rwhois'd to a brand new shell company LLC, headquartered in
> what looks like a UPS store maildrop.
>

In the instances he quoted, I prefer, at best, a wish not to know about
what is spewing from their address space.




--
John


linford at spamhaus

Nov 26, 2009, 1:53 AM

Post #19 of 21 (1784 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

On 25 Nov 2009, at 04:22, Russell Myba wrote:

> Looks like of our customers has decided to turn their /24 into a
> nice little
> space spewing machine. Doesn't seem like just one compromised host.
>
> Reverse DNS for most of the /24 are suspicious domains. Each
> domain used in
> the message-id forwards to a single .net which lists their mailing
> address
> as a PO box an single link to an unsubscribe field.

Classic snowshoe spam setup, probably a professional snowshoe spam
outfit known to Spamhaus as 'Tactara' and 'Webzero'.

Snowshoe spam operations operate by contacting ISP pretending to be
'IP space brokers', they buy lots of IP space and have it all SWIPed
in small chunks, mostly /24s, to an endless array of anonymous
Wyoming and Delaware shell companies at UPS mailboxes. They then fill
the /24s with freshly-registered 'nonsense' domains, tunnel into the
server to hide their real location, and start the spamming. Usually
almost every IP in the /24 has a spam cannon on it and a web page
with just an 'unsubscribe' field.

They're the reason we created the CSS announced here:
http://www.spamhaus.org/news.lasso?article=646

(please don't follow up to this post here on NANOG, as NANOG is not
an appropriate forum for spam discussions)

Steve Linford
The Spamhaus Project
http://www.spamhaus.org


rsk at gsp

Nov 26, 2009, 4:55 AM

Post #20 of 21 (1777 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 09:25:27AM -0800, Michael Peddemors wrote:
> I here people saying that they don't publish whois information because they
> don't want the email's made public. Okay, at least the registered company
> name, or individual who presented the ID should be there.

Without delving too far into this: there is no point whatsoever in attempting
to conceal or obfuscate email addresses --not any more. It is an obsolete,
"cargo cult" practice that many are still engaged in without grasping that
it was quite thoroughly defeated by spammers and their associates years ago.

That said, I concur in full with your opinions in re whois data and
the need to assign it properly. I've long since stopped trying to
deal with missing information and have adopted the rule that if the
neighborhood looks sufficiently bad, I just block a /24 worth. That
may sound arbitrary, but in practice it works extremely well.

---Rsk


michael at linuxmagic

Nov 26, 2009, 5:06 PM

Post #21 of 21 (1762 views)
Permalink
Re: I got a live one! - Spam source [In reply to]

Not to keep endlessly on this thread, but again with reference to good whois
record keeping and bad..

64.21.87.136: mx2.yvzus.com
64.21.87.141: mx3.xmabs.com
64.21.87.168: mx5.zgows.com
64.21.87.170: mx5.zntas.com

<GOOD> We know the activity is probably limited to:

Found a referral to whois.nac.net:43.

NAC-Rwhoisd32 Server Ready - [hydrogen/43] Rwhoisd32 - 1.0.76

Private (NET-40155780-26)
1000 Elliott Ave W
Seattle, WA 98119
US

OrgID : NAC-40612
Netname : NET-40155780-26
Netblock: 64.21.87.128/26
NetUse : additional loopback ips for 66.246.252.57

Coordinator:
Whitaker, Claude washwhitaker [at] aol
Phone: 206-407-3201


67.229.101.206: hikmvo.leadingsolutionlinks.com
67.229.101.207: noqo.leadingsolutionlinks.com
67.229.101.208: rqecf.leadingsolutionlinks.com

<GOOD> We know that the activity is probably limited to:

VPLS Inc. d/b/a Krypt Technologies VPLSNET (NET-67-229-0-0-1)
67.229.0.0 - 67.229.255.255
Roy Diaz ROY (NET-67-229-96-0-1)
67.229.96.0 - 67.229.111.255

(Other than VPLS/Krypt seems to really like these type of customers)

70.97.119.58: mail1.ugallshwomange.com
70.97.119.59: mail1.ugouricarali.com
70.97.119.60: mail1.utanonesiana.com
70.97.119.61: mail1.vatetricarkose.com
70.97.119.62: mail1.venesiandsgu.com
70.97.119.63: mail1.viandslahass.com
70.97.119.64: mail1.vientianarica.com
70.97.119.65: mail1.vientuckyan.com

<BAD>

Integra Telecom, Inc. ELI-NETWORK-ELIX (NET-70-96-0-0-1)
70.96.0.0 - 70.99.255.255
Syptec ITCM-70-97-118-0-23 (NET-70-97-118-0-1)
70.97.118.0 - 70.97.119.255

This is a /23 but with Syptec's record... They sure like opening ranges to
email marketers first :) Unless Syptec is operating those machines
themselves.. but in that class C all the IP's don't appear to start on a
normal boundary, .35-.65 with all the rest of the IP's having no reverse DNS.
Does this client of theirs have control over the whole /23 or just a part?


205.251.11.130: loneas41.instantcasheasynow.com
205.251.11.163: lon69.instantcasheasynow.com
205.251.11.70: lon83.instantcasheasynow.com
205.251.7.144: click37.fallcreditcash.com
205.251.7.204: track42.fallcreditcash.com
205.251.7.253: click14.fallcreditcash.com
205.251.7.99: track4.fallcreditcash.com

<BAD>

InfoRelay Online Systems, Inc. INFORELAY-EST-02 (NET-205-251-0-0-1)
205.251.0.0 - 205.251.127.255
Reaction54 REACT54-03 (NET-205-251-8-0-1)
205.251.8.0 - 205.251.15.255

Is this two different clients on Reaction54, or is this Reaction54 themselves?
I think you have to assume the later based on this whois information..
Especially when you see that the whole class C has the same naming patterns.

216.52.246.253: host6.chemistryearth.com
216.52.246.254: host6.consecutiveworld.com

<GOOD>

Internap Network Services Corporation PNAP-8-98 (NET-216-52-0-0-1)
216.52.0.0 - 216.52.255.255
Aurora Networking INAP-LAX-AURORA-34937 (NET-216-52-246-0-1)
216.52.246.0 - 216.52.246.255

More companies on Internap, but at least we know exactly what range is owned
by this company.. We can just look at the one class 'C'.

And of course we can see that this is quite typical right across the range..

218.213.228.76: ad-a11.pointdnshere.com
218.213.228.92: ns193.pointdnshere.com

<BAD>

Ummm.. we can't say the same operator is using all of these can we?

inetnum: 218.213.0.0 - 218.213.255.255
netname: HKNET-HK
descr: HKNet Company Limited
descr: 15/F, Tower 2, Ever Gain Plaza,
descr: 88 Container Port Road, Kwai Chung, N.T.
country: HK

And if we guessed, and said the same behavior was across the board, we would
be hurting the poor guy on that class C in the top of the range..

(Oh, yeah.. I know.. I threw that last example to show that this isn't just a
North American problem)




On November 26, 2009, Rich Kulawiec wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 09:25:27AM -0800, Michael Peddemors wrote:
> > I here people saying that they don't publish whois information because
> > they don't want the email's made public. Okay, at least the registered
> > company name, or individual who presented the ID should be there.
>
> Without delving too far into this: there is no point whatsoever in
> attempting to conceal or obfuscate email addresses --not any more. It is
> an obsolete, "cargo cult" practice that many are still engaged in without
> grasping that it was quite thoroughly defeated by spammers and their
> associates years ago.
>
> That said, I concur in full with your opinions in re whois data and
> the need to assign it properly. I've long since stopped trying to
> deal with missing information and have adopted the rule that if the
> neighborhood looks sufficiently bad, I just block a /24 worth. That
> may sound arbitrary, but in practice it works extremely well.
>
> ---Rsk
>


--
--
"Catch the Magic of Linux..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Peddemors - President/CEO - LinuxMagic
Products, Services, Support and Development
Visit us at http://www.linuxmagic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Wizard IT Company - For More Info http://www.wizard.ca
"LinuxMagic" is a Registered TradeMark of Wizard Tower TechnoServices Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
604-589-0037 Beautiful British Columbia, Canada

This email and any electronic data contained are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed.
Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely
those of the author and are not intended to represent those of the company.

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